Decoding Italian Wine: A Beginner's Guide to Enjoying the Grapes, Regions, Practices and Culture of the "Land of Wine"

by Andrew Cullen, Ryan Anthony McNally

Updated for 2022! Wine books typically fall into two those that are 1,000 pages and cover every acre of grape growing across a particular country, and those that try to squeeze the same amount of information into a smaller number of pages. While there’s a place for those books, we believe an introductory study of wine can be achieved without committing to an academic, encyclopedic read or bulling through a condensed group of dry facts. Written by the creators of CostcoWineBlog.com and VivaItalianMovies.com, "Decoding Italian Wine" is a fun, entertaining and easily digestible guide to enjoying Italian wine. Set against a backdrop of fast facts, regional breakdowns with maps, pop culture references and interesting historical tidbits, "Decoding Italian Wine" allows readers to absorb a plethora of Italian wine information without the effort required to study dense text filled with obscure grape varietals and arcane industry lingo.

Our goal is for readers to feel comfortable visiting the Italian wine section at their local wine shop, engaging in dialogue about the wine, and picking out a bottle they’ll enjoy. We want readers to open the wine list at an Italian restaurant, understand what they’re looking at, and have fun picking a wine that will pair best with their meal. Along the way we’ll show you how to read Italian wine labels, discuss how Italian wines are classified, suggest some amusing Italian phrases to work into your vocabulary, highlight rappers’ passion for Moscato, and even share a little bit about the wine scenes in classic Italian films like "Bicycle Thieves" and "La Dolce Vita." Salute!

Genres: Wine

115 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 12, 2014

About the author

Andrew Cullen has authored and co-authored four non-fiction books, including the popular DECODING WINE series, as well as two works of fiction, THE CALLISTO SYMPHONY (2015) and A GENTLE SLAUGHTER OF THE PERFECT KIND (2017).

He is a digital marketer for a global 100 brand, a wine contributor for HuffPost and the founder and editor of CostcoWineBlog.com. His writing and websites have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports, The Daily Meal, Southern Living, CNN Money and CBS Moneywatch.

Reviews

[Robert Poortinga · Rating 1 out of 5]

For someone who really wants to learn about Italian wine, do not waste your time on this book. Unfortunately the amazing title does in not live up to the expectation. Nearly all the information can simply be found on Google, as the authors suggest a couple of times to use as a guide, and if the authors suggest to pair a Chianti wine with a 'Rigatoni and Vodka Sauce' I highly doubt if they have understood anything from the Italian gastronomic culture (I myself would suggest a Cinghiale in Umido with a good chianti; a traditional dish from the region).

The authors had such a wonderful opportunity to make something out of this book but their populistic and nearly arrogant writing style made it simply impossible to appreciate this book over '1' star.

[Ryan McNie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice quick introduction to Italian wines that focuses on the primary wine regions and most common wines. It's written in an informal and friendly tone that acts as a good starting point for those beginning to take wine seriously. A great depth of information related in an easy layout and great format.

[Terri-Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great beginner’s guide to Italian wines, offering a manageable amount of information and an easy-reading format and style. The inclusion of a ‘wine label interpretation’ chapter was super helpful in preparing me for a visit to my local wine merchant. I’m glad to have this on my shelf for future reference.

[Abigail Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great beginners reference book for Italian wine...awesome pairing recommendations too!

Learn about 7 important regions of Italian wine, how to read wine labels and your next food pairing adventure. Loved it and a quick read!

[Louellen Coker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very basic book about Italian wines. Quick and easy to read, this is a good book to read on a flight to Italy.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, fun read

This book was a lot of fun to read and I would recommend it for anyone looking to learn more about Italian wine.

[Morane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple but nice book to have an introduction to italien wines! Don’t expect something crazy but you will definitely decode a bit better the wines :)

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more an extended blog post than a book as such, but it's ideal for a quick bone-up and fill-in on a flight to Italy when wineries are likely to be playing a part. The authors decided to eschew encyclopaedic lists of wineries, or even recommendations, in favour of a rundown of "the hits" and their grape types, along with some brief discussion of the main characteristics of those grapes. Stir in a couple of extraneous items like Italian-themed film scenes and some food pairings, and hey presto, there's your book.

The good part of this approach is that it gets you quickly to deciding on some wine types to try: I got off the plane with a hankering for trying a Gavi (white wine from Barolo territory) and reacquainting myself with Aglianico (red from Campania or Puglia), as well as using the lowdown on the difference between IGT and DOC/DOCG, particularly when referring to Tuscan wines. I also prepared to look for Grechetto whites in Umbria, where they're deservedly getting some attention, and to visit a winery where they make Sagrantino de Montefalco (big herby tannic red from Umbria which is also making great strides), the winner of which beauty contest was Arnaldo Caprai, a keenly manicured estate just outside the town of Montefalco.

So, not for experts, then, but rather for people who want to get some shape into their scattered knowledge and pick up a couple of pieces of information that can then be used to dig deeper on a visit to a winery or when picking through a decent wine list. It's also good for suggesting value-for-money options, and it was worth it just for the Gavi and Grechetto tips in my case, which came through for us on a couple of sunny days when a cool but classy white was heaven, and for the Aglianico, which is worth some investigation. As for the bigger hits, the Brunellos and Barolos and whatnot, there are other places to begin, but at least they're given some geographic perspective.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great intro for the complete Italian-wine novice. After reading this one has a bit of an understanding of the main grapes, areas and wines of Italy. Not in-depth, but that's not what this book is written for.

[Jozef Schildermans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mercifully short very basic introduction to Italian wine for the absolute beginner.